Mentally Ill Deserve Fair Access To Disability Tax Credits

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) "has abdicated its mandate for fairness by denying the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to eligible Canadians with disabilities" and particularly those with psychiatric disabilities according to advocate Lembi Buchanan of Victoria. "It has become virtually impossible for the majority of people living with severe psychiatric illnesses to access the DTC without appealing to the Tax Court of Canada," she said.

Ms. Buchanan is lobbying the new Liberal government to restore the accountability that was lost during the Harper government. She added in an email that "there has been a slow erosion of fair treatment of taxpayers with disabilities and no one has really paid attention to it. And of course, no one really seems to care."

Ms. Buchanan won a significant victory in Tax Court in 2001 when she represented her husband who suffers from bipolar disorder. In Buchanan vs. Her Majesty the Queen, Judge Diane Campbell recognized that "disability" did not mean "inability." The judge ruled that Ms. Buchanan's husband's bipolar disorder was severe enough to meet the restrictive criteria of the Income Tax Act even though he was able to maintain many of his intellectual capabilities.

For her work on this, Ms. Buchanan received the Access Award for Disability Issues in Toronto in 2003. In 2016, Ms. Buchanan received the Meritorious Service Medal from Governor General David Johnson for her "crucial role in income tax reformation by creating the Fighting for Fairness campaign. Through her intense lobbying, the need to broaden the eligibility criteria for the Disability Tax Credit received national attention and led to persons with mental and episodic disabilities benefiting from the federal tax credit."

CRA's behaviour administering the DTC, however, resulted in the House of Commons censuring them for their lack of humanity in 2002. In 2003, the government set up a Technical Advisory Council to help improve fairness. Then, in 2005, a Disability Advisory Committee was established comprised of experts including Ms. Buchanan to report directly to the minister of revenue.

Its mandate was to provide "a forum to identify the needs and expectations of the disability community" as "an important consultative forum through which members can provide helpful advice, comments and suggestions on tax measures for persons with disabilities."

At the time, Minister of National Revenue John McCallum said that "it is crucial that persons with disabilities be treated equally and fairly, and I am confident that the members of the committee will help us achieve this."

But then, in 2006, according to Ms. Buchanan, the Harper government disbanded the advisory committee. Since then, it has again become increasingly more difficult for people with mental illnesses to qualify for the DTC partly because the tax form is so complicated. The form asks if activities are markedly restricted and adds in parentheses "at least 90 per cent of the time."

It is based on this that many claims are rejected. Because of the 90 per cent or above threshold, many doctors are unwilling to fill out the form in the first place. Upon rejection, many applicants give up while some appeal to the Tax Court, which often rules in favour of the taxpayer.

An example is the case of Steele vs. The Queen, 2002. The judge in that case stated in S 15 that "I remain just a bit sceptical that the medical profession has advanced to the point that the complexites of the brain's receipt, storage and retrieval of data can be identified with such an accuracy that would allow a psychiatrist to proclaim that an individual is unable to remember 25 per cent, 50 per cent or 90 per cent of the time."

The judge went on to say that he is bound by the decision of Associate Chief Judge Bowman in the Radage decision that:

a) The legislative intent appears to be to provide a modest amount of tax relief to persons who fall within a relatively restricted category of markedly physically or mentally impaired persons. The intent is neither to give the credit to everyone who suffers from a disability nor to erect a hurdle that is impossible for virtually every disabled person to surmount. It obviously recognizes that disabled persons need such tax relief and it is intended to be of benefit to such persons.

b) The court must, while recognizing the narrowness of the tests enumerated in sections 118.3 and 118.4, construe the provisions liberally, humanely and compassionately and not narrowly and technically.

c) If there is doubt on which side of the line a claimant falls, that doubt should be resolved in favour of the claimant.

However, so many claims for the tax credit have been rejected that an industry of consultants has grown up in the past few years who promise to help get the claim through the system. One such company, The National Benefit Authority in Toronto, has 160 full-time staff and charge 30 per cent of the amount their clients recover from CRA. It is estimated that there are 24 different companies offering services.

In 2014 Bill C-462, The DTC Promoter's Restrictions Act, was passed to limit the amount these companies could charge disabled taxpayers, but then the government failed to enforce it. Ms. Buchanan has just heard from CRA that they are now going to draft the regulations for this act so that it can be enforced.

However, one positive piece of legislation brought in for those with disabilities by the Harper Government is the Registered Disability Savings Plan to help people save for the future. The government will donate up to $20,000 over a lifetime to people as well as to provide grant money for low-income Canadians with disabilities up to a $70,000 limit.

The catch-22, however, is that a Disability Tax Credit is a prerequisite to qualify. Unless Ms. Buchanan's lobbying is successful, few will.

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Celebrities With Bipolar Disorder

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Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones publicly disclosed her diagnosis after seeking treatment. Though she wasn't initially going to come public (on an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," husband Michael Douglas said he suspects someone at the hospital leaked information to the press), Zeta-Jones has nonetheless voiced her support for those who also suffer from bipolar disorder.
In an interview with People, Zeta-Jones said there is "no need to suffer silently," and that if her speaking up encourages just one person to seek help of their own, then her experience was worth it.

The Mayo Clinic released a statement in August of 2012 that the congressman and son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson was receiving treatment for bipolar II depression, after taking an unexplained medical leave two months earlier.
His wife had previously called his depression "debilitating", the AP reported.

After spending three months in a rehab facility for bulimia, anorexia, cutting and depression, Lovato also announced she'd been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Lovato told People magazine she didn't know she had the disorder until she entered treatment.
Lovato told AOL Music she plans to continue speaking out about her experience to help others. "I feel like it's no coincidence that God put me through all of this and has also given me the voice that I have. I feel like my purpose on earth is much greater than just being a singer, a musician or actress. I think it's to reach out to people and to raise awareness of these issues that not many people speak about."

The action star told E! Online he was being treated for bipolar disorder with the drug sodium valproate, Everyday Health reported.
"Since I'm doing that it's, like, BOOM! In one week, I felt it kick in. All the commotion around me, all the water around me, moving left and right around me, became like a lake," he said.

The reality TV star has experienced a number of high-profile ups and downs on camera. She told People magazine that she takes medication for bipolar disorder after being diagnosed in 2008.
"I don't think I'm bipolar, to be honest with you," she said at the time. "I'm just really outgoing. I think everybody thinks they're bipolar these days. You're a teenager, you have hormones. You're gonna switch up every two seconds!"
But she spoke more vulnerably about her diagnosis later with E! News, saying "I struggle with it. I hate it. I grieve over it" of her diagnosis.

In 2007, Grammy-winning artist Sinead O'Connor appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to talk about her battle with bipolar disorder. She said receiving treatment for the disorder made her reborn and gave her at chance at building a new life.

After canceling a number of the band's tour dates last summer, Passion Pit's lead singer told Rolling Stone he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was 18 and was experiencing a particularly debilitating bout of depression when the band was set to tour.
"My depression was so bad three weeks ago when we had to cancel everything -- people don't understand this. People don't understand that it's not just debilitating; it's all-encompassing," he told Rolling Stone.

Fisher first publicly discussed her experience with bipolar disorder with Diane Sawyer in 2000, telling Sawyer she was convinced for many years she was a drug addict before finding out she was manic depressive. Fisher has since been very open about her struggle with the disorder, including the time she spent in a mental hospital following a particularly difficult episode.
"At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring lots of stamina and even more courage," Fisher wrote in her 2008 memoir "Wishful Drinking." "So if you're living with this illness and functioning at all, it's something to be proud of, not ashamed of."

The Academy Award-winning actress was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 35 years old. In an interview with "Everyday Health," Duke said the diagnosis came as a relief, because it meant she wasn't the only person in the world feeling the way she did. In her memoir "A Brilliant Madness: Living With Manic-Depressive Illness", Duke says she knew from a young age there was something wrong with her, "but I thought it was just that I was not a good person, that I didn't try hard enough."
Duke has been an advocate for bipolar disorder awareness for years. She's spoken out about her experience on numerous occasions, including on "20/20," "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and during a 1997 interview with Barbara Walters on "The View." Duke told Walters she considered herself lucky to have had "access to the media, to write a book and talk about" her experience.
Duke continues to speak out; in 2005, she was asked to testify before Congress on mental health-related issues.

The former "Dateline" NBC host discussed her bipolar disorder diagnosis in a 2004 interview with Matt Lauer. After struggling with minor depression for several months and not getting better, Pauley said she was shocked when the doctor explained she was actually suffering from bipolar disorder.
In her 2004 memoir "Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue," Pauley writes she doesn't know if or when she'll have another bipolar episode, but that she's now adapted and learned to be more aware of her moods and how she's feeling. "The world has not become spontaneously organized to make accommodations for my weaknesses while nurturing my newly discovered strengths," Pauley wrote.

The star of "Terminator" told Larry King in 2005 that the bigger her life and career grew, the worse her mental health and bipolar disorder became. And because she suffered from depression while growing up, Hamilton said she now has a very open dialogue with her children and reminds them it's okay to speak up about their feelings.
In a 2006 interview for "Sidewalks," Hamilton described the mood swings she often suffered before being diagnosed and receiving proper care for the condition. "I like to speak out to let people know that they're not alone," Hamilton said.